I have never understood the need to hire someone to help search for a superintendent. I think it would be sufficient to take out ads in Education Week, The New York Times, NASSP and NAESP Bulletins, and a few publications that have a national circulation and are common;y read by school adminstrators. Please recall that a national search brought Akron Dr. Terry Grier, an innnovative man of vision, but one who was ill-suited by temperment and experience to work in Akron, Ohio.

yeah great---- get some out of town guy, pay for the process of finding him, give him a cushy retirement buyout clause and invite him to move into town. better yet get another one of them golden tongued southern boys again. And then after three years of doing things the southern "innovative" way, messing things up and pissing off the community leave. Wait.... first cash in that large buy out clause.

why can't we hire someone who has shown the prowess to run an urban district (whiteman or black). Akron is the best large urban district in the state (according to test results and whatever other meaningless stats the state uses).

Sad but true it doesn't take much to get elected to the school board. even sadder it doesn't take much to stay on it. The board we have will make the same stupid mistake again---they have little brains and forgetful memories.

Look, merge akron with all surrounding districts and see good things happen, regionalism at its best. Akron no longer needs its school board-mix it with some other systems and then you have something. it is time for change for urban systmes to mix with the suburban.

No way do I want our successful suburban districts mixing with Akron. That would only bring the quality of the suburban districts down to Akron's level. Better to put someone in charge to bring up Akron's results who knows how to do it. It won't be easy because the teachers and administrators in Akron are so use to making excuses for failure of their Akron school system and saying more money will fix the problems which it never has done.

Shouldn't be too hard to find sum-buddy whose goals are to waste tax dollars as fast as they can, while askin' for more money at every turn. The welfare office is full of those folks on a daily basis.

Akron needs a super who can bring disipline back into the schools and trim the fat from the school management staff. One that has no qualms about tossin' out the bad eggs, so that the students that want to learn, can learn in a safe and intelligent envoirment.

shouldn't they want someone fiscally responsible? oh wait....no, that wouldn't work for them....and god forbid they hire someone who already LIVES in akron! better to go out of state cuz it'll cost more for relocation fees!!!

and if they community can weigh in, are they REALLY going to be allowed to ask questions??? you can't go in and ask questions at a school board meeting without pre-approval....

they need to hire the 'wizard' from oz...someone to manipulate things behind the curtain....

"Tossing bad eggs" where exactly? Onto the streets? Discipline begins at home, Betamax. So just try to find a super who can make all families healthy, wealthy and wise and you'll have solved all the problems to be found in urban education.

Bus to Tallmadge and let the third reich take it from there. Put Uncle Big Grump in charge.

If I were in charge, Akron schools would do very well. I'd cut staff and waste. Close unneeded schools. Establish goals and measure individual teacher results. I'd fire those who can't make it. However, I do not care to be a superintendent.

"Tossing bad eggs" where exactly? Onto the streets? Discipline begins at home, Betamax. So just try to find a super who can make all families healthy, wealthy and wise and you'll have solved all the problems to be found in urban education.

Sure why not. Give them a chance or two, then out they go. After a while, the rest will get the message, includin' the parents. Dispipline in the home will increase from those parents that care. For those that don't, there is rarely any hope for their kids anyway.

<quoted text>If I were in charge, Akron schools would do very well. I'd cut staff and waste. Close unneeded schools. Establish goals and measure individual teacher results. I'd fire those who can't make it. However, I do not care to be a superintendent.

<quoted text>If I were in charge, Akron schools would do very well. I'd cut staff and waste. Close unneeded schools. Establish goals and measure individual teacher results. I'd fire those who can't make it. However, I do not care to be a superintendent.

Some years ago, the state loosened the licensure/certification requirements for superintendent to allow people with neither a background nor an education in the field of education to apply. That being the case, I would encourage anyone to apply who thinks they know the key to making increasing student learning and test scores. There is certainly no shortage of people who claim to know the answers. Having worked in urban public education, I can assure you that it is not as easy as it might seem. The only day that being a superintedent would look good to me would be payday.

<quoted text>If I were in charge, Akron schools would do very well. I'd cut staff and waste. Close unneeded schools. Establish goals and measure individual teacher results. I'd fire those who can't make it. However, I do not care to be a superintendent.

The Mayor and the next Superintendent really need to recognize that Akron Public Schools have so much more to do with who wants to live in Akron than anything else. So many people move to the suburbs because they don't want their kids going to APS for one reason or another - primarily because of unfounded rumors or that they do not want their children to go to school with kids that they perceive to be negative influences on their children. Like a gardener, the new superintendent needs to protect and further cultivate the schools that are doing well first, then concentrate on the schools with the most potential to be sucessful and nurse them back to health, then get rid of what is in place as far as the definite loser schools and start over. Perhaps if this once great city took its schools as seriously as its eminent domain and development projects everybody would want to live here.

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